society, the systems that run the country, our infrastructure and preserve order like power systems, air traffic, financial industry. it's a sweeping report and a scary conclusion. we begin with nbc's andrea mitchell in our washington newsroom. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. outgoing defense secretary panetta has warned of a cyber pearl harbor. the president warned about cyber sabotage in the state of the union. and now for the first time, new evidence pinpoints the attacks as coming in and out only from china, but as you point out, from the chinese military. a seven-year internet hunt zeroed in on one neighborhood in shanghai, and finally, this 12-story building, the source of thousands of cyber attacks against 141 u.s. companies spanning 20 industries. whose building is it? according to a new report confirmed by u.s. intelligence, it's the headquarters of unit 61398, the cyber warriors for china's peoples liberation army. >> i think it was time to let the world know, it's actually not just from china, it's the chinese government sanctioning

these attacks. >> reporter: among the targets of china's hackers, america's very infrastructure. >> now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems. >> reporter: other targets of chinese hackers, familiar brand names like coca-cola, facebook, "the new york times," "washington post" and "wall street journal," and only today, apple. the hackers have user names like ugly gorilla and doda. according to this instructional manual from mandia, the computer security firm that did the study. >> here we see doda logging into one of his operational accounts. he has used this account for spear phishing and generating additional e-mail accounts. >> reporter: what is spear phishing? it's how attackers gain a foothold into a company's computer network by sending deceptive e-mails, tricking users to clicking on a malicious link to a phony website. once the victims provide passwords, p.i.n. numbers or access codes, the hackers are in, able to steal confidential

files and route them to shanghai, sometimes for years with no one noticing. >> when these companies are engaging in business in china, they really are going up against a full panoply of resources of the chinese government. >> reporter: the president has himself complained about china's cyber attacks and officials say got nowhere. but the u.s. uses cyber war to sabotage iran's nuclear program. what do you say to people who say, wait a second, the u.s. does this, too? >> our government's not going to hack for the benefit of the private sector. they'll hack for the benefit of american people's security. >> and why don't businesses fight back? computer experts say most companies are afraid if they complain about the hacking, they'll lose access to billions of dollars of business in china. brian? >> andrea mitchell starting us off from washington. thanks. more on this same theme. as we mentioned, apple said today it had been hacked, believed to be the work of the same computer hackers who hit facebook in recent days. the apple attack involved malware picked up on a company computer which apple says it has isolated.

as for its worried customers, apple says a software patch is now available for download to identify and repair any macs that might have been exposed to the attack. well, we're all veterans now of events with names like the debt ceiling deadline, the fiscal cliff, and the next one is barreling down the tracks. it is called the sequester, but it has nothing to do with a jury. and if it isn't stopped, if it's allowed to go through in ten days, huge automatic spending cuts go into effect. the president used some dire language to warn about it today. and tonight, nbc's john yang explains what this sequester is and the impact it could have for everyone. >> reporter: with no budget deal in sight and automatic spending cuts just days away, president obama said today it was the fault of congressional republicans. >> they haven't come together and done their jobs, and so as a consequence, we've got these automatic, brutal spending cuts. >> reporter: republicans blame

the president. >> the president, back in the last session of congress, refused to cut spending in any place. >> reporter: they're fighting over a sequester. washington speak for the $1.2 trillion across-the-board spending cuts that would begin march 1st unless congress and the president agree on a deficit-cutting package. >> the problem with it is it doesn't distinguish between wasteful spending and very good spending. >> reporter: through 2021, it means cutting $85 billion a year, half from the pentagon, half from nondefense programs. everything from education to national parks to meals on wheels. exempt from the cuts, programs like social security and veterans' benefits and student loans. the administration warns federal food inspectors would be temporarily furloughed. that could mean less product, higher prices and fewer jobs. air travelers may see longer lines at security checkpoints. by one congressional estimate, as many as 9,000 tsa officers

may have to be laid off. the pentagon budget would be cut 11% a year, even as the war in afghanistan continues. d.o.d. civilian workers will likely take the hit. plans call for more than 700,000 to take one day off a week without pay, a 20% pay cut. jason mckenzie owns ride on bikes in columbus, georgia, home to fort benning. military employees make up half his business so smaller paychecks could mean fewer sales. >> it's going to take money out of everybody's pocket, everything will crash. everybody will stop spending, everybody. >> reporter: one of the ripple effects of gridlock in washington felt far beyond the beltway. john yang, nbc news, chicago. >> all of this somehow brings us to our political director and chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. so chuck, what's going to happen here? and if it does happen and if it's fixed, do you wonder why so many people are so deeply angry, cynical and checked out of our

politics? >> i can understand if viewers tonight think this is chicken little all over again. the president holding another event surrounded by people who could see dire effects of a budget compromise. it feels like we've been through this before. the sky is falling. what are we going to do? we don't -- we know how this is going to get resolved. these cuts are going to go through march 1st, probably. the government runs out of funding at the end of march. they'll come up with some compromise deal. doesn't quite fix things. kind of a band-aid, and then they'll punt something else down the road, and we'll go down this. what this does is it makes the rest of government a bit dysfunctional. and of course, it builds the cynicism. the one thing i wonder here is we already know that congress isn't popular. the president is testing the political limit of the public cynicism, which is how much are they going to believe this? are they going to look up and say, how often are you going to say this? i'm through listening to washington. >> all right. chuck todd with the dire forecast to go along with the news we're reporting tonight. chuck, thanks, as always. marine corps four-star general john allen in line to become the nato supreme allied

commander has been rattled by the e-mail scandal that brought down cia director david petraeus, informed the president today he is retiring to support his wife who is ill with an autoimmune disorder. general allen was cleared of wrongdoing after e-mails between him and a florida socialite surfaced during the course of the petraeus investigation. oscar pistorius was back in court today. and for the first time, we heard his side of the story, what he says really happened inside his home the night his girlfriend was killed on valentine's day of last week. it was all part of a very emotional day in which the defense and prosecution laid out their cases. nbc's michelle kosinski was inside the courtroom. >> reporter: oscar pistorius faced the court, the world's cameras, and told his side of the story. in a statement read by his lawyer, he claimed he acted in self-defense against a suspected intruder. he said he woke up in the middle of the night, brought a fan in

from his balcony. returning to the bedroom, he said, "i heard a noise in the bathroom and realized someone was in the bathroom. i felt a sense of terror rushing over me. as i did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, i knew i had to protect reeva and myself. i grabbed my .9-millimeter pistol from underneath my bed, screamed words to the effect for him -- them -- to get out of my house. it was pitch dark and i thought reeva was in bed." prosecutors say he fired four times, three of them into the small locked bathroom seen here in a photo from a real estate website. those shots struck reeva as she sat inside. only then pistorius says did he realize his girlfriend was not in bed. he broke through the bathroom door, tried to save her, called a friend, then paramedics, he said, but "she died in my arms." prosecutors made it clear they don't buy it. why would a burglar lock himself into a toilet? they said reeva locked that door

for a purpose, arguing even if he did think it was an intruder, this would still be premeditated murder of a defenseless burglar. they said pistorius armed himself that morning, put on his artificial legs, walked 23 feet down a hallway to the bathroom and fired. lawyers for pistorius insist there was no motive for murder, no premeditation, and read statements from friends who described the two as deeply in love. steenkamp's best friend said steenkamp would have married pistorius if he had asked. at the same time as all this today, steenkamp's funeral. >> reeva. >> reporter: a promising young life ended by a terrible accident or premeditated murder? michelle kosinski, nbc news, pretoria, south africa. back in this country tonight, just days after the chris dorner rampage terrorized southern california, another gruesome shooting rampage in the early hours of this morning. a gunman identified as a 20-year-old part-time student shot and killed a woman, then

carjacked a total of three vehicles in all, killing two of the drivers before law enforcement finally closed in on him, he took his own life. police said they have no motive for all of this. so far, they are convinced this is an isolated incident. and we're back with more on this tuesday night right after this.

good evening. i'm miguel almaguer in los angeles with late-blaking news. a massive fire has broken out tonight in downtown kansas city. emergency crews believe a car hit a gas main outside a popular j.j.'s restaurant during the dinner hour. after the huge explosion, chaos and confusion. several people were said to be injured and could be in serious condition. tonight, heavy smoke and flames are still pouring out of the area, which is also home to at least one apartment complex. now back to brian williams in new york. we're back, as promised, with that wild heist today in belgium. a group of armed gunmen made off with at least $50 million in

diamonds, pulling it off, then vanishing without a trace in just minutes. it happened at brussels airport. nbc's keir simmons has our report. >> reporter: it was brazen. eight armed men targeting an airport, escaping with millions in diamonds without firing a shot, leaving nothing but a burned-out van. >> this was a very quick hit-and-run, very well organized. >> reporter: the men were in two vehicles, a mercedes van and a car. they drove through a hole cut in the airport security fence and made straight for a brinks delivery van, loading a plane with the diamonds. they filled the vehicles with boxes of gems, then fled back through the fence. it took just three minutes. >> we can only conclude that these people were indeed very well aware of what they were doing, what they were looking for. >> reporter: the jewels were from antwerp, the capital of the world diamond trade. a heist there ten years ago was the biggest ever. tonight, disbelief that it's happened again. >> how is it possible that eight armed men can have access to the

tarmac to a specific plane in which they knew that it was going to take off a few minutes later and that had diamonds on board? >> reporter: diamonds like those sold here in london are a tempting target for thieves. they're small, so easy to carry away. in 2009, two men robbed glass diamonds of $65 million worth. security cameras showed them simply walking in, disguised in professional makeup. in 1978, the legendary lufthansa heist at jfk airport. >> several million dollars in cash and jewelry taken from a cargo hangar by a band of armed men wearing masks. >> reporter: made famous in the movie "goodfellas." >> and these are the guys that jimmy put together for what turned out to be the biggest heist in american history. >> reporter: just last year at a london mall was hit by jewel thieves on motorcycles. police in belgium will now be looking for clues in their own security camera video. but experts warn the diamonds may have already vanished into the black market.

keir simmons, nbc news, london. we're back in a moment with a software glitch in outer space and what the president's weekend golf partner said about his game. there's this island -- and it's got super-cute kangaroos.

barrow island has got rare kangaroos. ♪ chevron has been developing energy here for decades. we need to protect their environment. we have a strict quarantine system

to protect the integrity of the environment. forty years on, it's still a class-a nature reserve. it's our job to look after them. ...it's my job to look after it. ♪ no big deal, but for a time today, nasa lost contact with the international space station, hurdling around the earth at 17,000 miles an hour while carrying six adults on board. anyone who's ever downloaded new software won't be surprised to learn the glitch happened because they were downloading new software. they were able to speak by old-school radio with the russians every time they passed over russia in orbit. they were never in any danger. tonight the system's back up and running. and we happen to know "nightly news" is uploaded to the space station each evening, so at least they get to see themselves on tv. as the british newspaper the "daily mail" breathlessly put it today, kate put her baby bump on

parade. today's public event at hope house, a rehab facility in south london, was the first appearance by kate middleton in public since being visibly with child. easily the most anxiously awaited birth in the uk since diana herself was pregnant with prince william 30 years ago. to be fair, the "daily mail" went on to describe her as radiant today, now halfway through her pregnancy. vice president joe biden is out with another one of those sound bites that could live on for a long time. he appeared on a live video town hall on gun violence sponsored by facebook and "parents" magazine. he was responding to a gun owner fearful about a ban on certain kinds of weapons and clips, that it would leave people unable to protect themselves in their home. >> kate, if you want to protect yourself, get a double-barrel shotgun, have the shells of a .12-gauge shotgun, and i promise

you, as i told my wife -- we live in an area that's wooded and somewhat secluded. i said, jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out, put that double-barrelled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house. i promise you, whoever's coming in is not going to -- you don't need an ar-15. it's harder to aim. it's harder to use. and, in fact, you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. buy a shotgun. buy a shotgun. >> the vice president went on to say the government has to make some limits on the weapons people can buy. otherwise, he said, the wrong people would have flamethrowers and rocket launchers and billionaires could buy fully loaded fighter jets. tiger woods spoke publicly today about his golf outing this weekend with president obama in florida. he said the president's a good athlete, and he had forgotten until he teed off that he's a lefty. and by the way, it was apparent listening to tiger woods today he was drilled on the proper way to address the president in all

cases. >> playing with mr. president was pretty cool. he's just a wonderful person to be around, and we won. he hit the ball well and got amazing touch. he can certainly chip and putt. if he ever spent, after these four years, if he spends more time playing the game of golf, i'm sure he can get to where he's a pretty good stick. >> it was the president's first golf outing with tiger woods, who's still recovering from the massive explosion in his personal life. it was tiger woods' second golf outing with a u.s. president. he's played golf before with president clinton. up next tonight, all the many things russians have recorded on their dashboard video cameras and why it is so many russian drivers have them.

so, we all woke up last friday morning to the story of the meteor and the damage it did in russia and the numerous videos of the flaming trail across the sky. almost as amazing as the meteor was the huge number of high-quality hd videos from what looked like a fleet of dashboard cameras in vehicles all over

russia. then we did some checking, and we discovered these cameras are a big thing among russians, and they see a lot of things. our report tonight from our own longtime moscow veteran, nbc's jim maceda. >> reporter: when that meteor came crashing into siberia last week, the moment was captured for the ages from just about every angle. caught in the act by these, small, inexpensive dashboard cameras, dashcams. and in a country where traffic can be a matter of life and death, few russian drivers leave home without them. "it protects me from the lawless, drunken idiots on the road," says dmitry. "if someone cuts me off, i have proof it wasn't me." but all those cameras are also capturing so much more. how about a tank crossing your lane? a truckload of cows spilling in front of you. or the wheel of a crashed plane

slamming into you. or even being buzzed by a helicopter. or a fighter jet. with road rage commonplace, those dashcams document who started the brawl or fired the pistol, evidence that can trump even the most corrupt russian traffic cop. >> you always suspect that the policemen may not treat you fairly, that the policeman's opinion may be bent easily by people with connections and money and this happens all the time >> reporter: and those cams often capture scams. this guy is actually trying to get hit, slightly, by an oncoming car. or this car braking suddenly, triggering a fender bender and possibly some quick cash unless dashcam video can prove what really happened. through all the mayhem, dashcams are much more than a tool for survival. they're providing a unique form of russian entertainment gone

viral. [ laughter ] and sometimes it's magic. jim maceda, nbc news. >> and we all just decided to bring cameras to the olympics in russia 11 months from now. that's our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. goodnight. right now at 6:00 playing defense and apologizing to the parents. the story continues with cal basketball coach mike montgomery after shoving his star player. >> and relighting streets. the new plan after dark days are for the city's budget. and a local mom convicted of sexually assaulting teenaged

boys is back. good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. we begin with the bay area on storm watch after the unusually dry spell for this time of year. the weather roller coaster sent us scrambling for our rubber boots today and umbrellas, too. our cameras got rain falling in the south bay and it certainly looked like winter on local mountain tops. our nbc chopper kept the snow on the peaks of mount hamilton. we had upper 70s to 80 degrees. highs today struggled to get out of the 40s. a look at the satellite ray tar picture and the upper level low, the pressure system is starting to push off to the south. the heaviest and consistent rainfall moving on out but as early as just a half hour ago we did have a lightning strike here in the south bay. that thunderstorm cell has now

dissipated but, once again, that's a sign of the instability that remains in the atmosphere. overall storm reports today they were wide ranging, as we mentioned, 9:50 this morning a sleet report here at 450 feet in san bruno. san jose and the napa valley and here we go. right now we'retarting to see the activity wind down a little bit. if you're traveling over the santa cruz mountains i do respect areas of hit and miss the next 30 to 35 minutes. here is the remarkable thing. we talk about how dry it has been, more rain today than we have seen in all of february for these cities. livermore picking up a half inch and are for the entire month you only have .05. the same for san francisco, santa rosa and in napa. yes, folks, this is not a major storm system. we are on storm watch and making a big deal out of it because of the lack of rainfall we have had in 2013. so rain is out there now.